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| Digging Planet Earth |
Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here.
Now last Sunday was Earth Day, where humanity paused to think about this planet and how we all can pitch in to make the world a better (and more livable) place for ourselves and our prosperity.
The following was sent to me after the initial article was run, but it's too good to wait until next Earth Day to post it.
Therefore, I present to you now:
"THE GREEN THING"
Checking out at the store, the
young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own paper grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The gray haired woman apologized
and explained, “We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days.”
The clerk responded, “That's our
problem today. Your generation didn't care enough to save our environment for
future generations.”
“You may be right,” began the old
woman, “our generation didn't have the green thing.
“Back when I was even younger
than you are now, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles, and beer bottles to
the store. The store sent them back to the plants to be washed, sterilized, and
refilled so they could reuse the same bottles over and over. So they really
were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
“We walked up stairs because we
didn't have an escalator in every store and office building,” continued the
older woman. “We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a
300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
“Back then, we washed the baby's
diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line
outside, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar
power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. And our kids got
hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not brand-new clothing
every time they needed something or just to keep up with the latest fashion
trend.
“Back then, we had one TV or a radio
in the house. Not a TV in every room. And that TV did not have a screen the size
of Montana,” said the lady. "In the kitchen, we blended and
stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for
us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old
newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
“We didn't fire up an engine and
burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human
power. We exercised by working and didn't need to go to a health club to run on
treadmills that operate on electricity.
“We drank from a fountain when we
were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a
drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new one,
and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole
razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back
then.
“I remember people took the
streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of
turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service,” said the old lady. “We usually
had just one electrical outlet per room, not an entire bank of sockets to power
a dozen different appliances all at once. And we didn't need a computerized
gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in
order to find the nearest pizza joint.
“But isn't it sad the current
generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have
the green thing back then?” the old lady asked, as she finished putting her
purchases into reusable tote bags before walking away.
The Sunday Funnies will return next weekend.-AtP.
